Steam Now Explains Why a Game Has Been Recommended to You

Ever wonder why a certain title was advertised to you on Steam? Now you’ll have a better idea of that, as Valve has tweaked the store to include a panel that alludes to the algorithm used for game recommendations. At least some of the factors appear to include your friends’ interest in the game and whether it was suggested by curators you follow. Are recommendations useful to you in general, or would you rather get an option to turn it off to declutter the interface?

In the short-term, Valve has decided to make its recommendation algorithm more transparent. If you use Steam today, you'll see it now explains why a game has been recommended to you, citing reasons such as user reviews, similar games you've played, curator recommendations and whether your friends own the game already, or have it on their wishlists. As well as giving you a better idea of what to expect from the game in question, the intention here is to ensure that if the store recommends something you don't want to play, you'll know why that's happened, too.